Giant gnomes delight little Lola

The Asda store in Chandler’s Ford invited a young girl with learning disabilities into the store to give her some giant gnomes.

Lola Anderson, who’s four, loves Asda gnomes and was left heartbroken when one of her favourite gnomes had broken.

Abbie Bowers, customer trading manager, asked little Lola to come into the store following a post from Lola’s mum on Facebook.

Lola’s mum and full-time carer, Laura Anderson, said:

“Lola is absolutely over the moon with her new gnomes – she’s made up.

‘Thank you so much Asda for arranging this – as soon as she walked into the store she spotted them, ran towards them and started hugging them.“

Abbie added:

“Lola was so excited when she saw the gnomes. She was playing with them and cuddling them – it was really nice to see her so happy – she didn’t want to leave the store without them.”

Lola has a rare genetic chromosome deletion called 16p12.2 microdeletion which means she has speech and language delay, global development delay, learning disabilities, hip dysplasia and severe bowel problems.

Laura added:

“For most of her life she has been in and out of hospital – she’s had a rough start to life, but she’s an incredible little girl.

Her gran first bought an Asda gnome for her as a present and she absolutely loves them – she calls them her friends, kisses them and holds their hands. She smiles at them and talks to them – she’s just adorable with them.

“Part of her condition is that she thinks that objects which look like people, like mannequins and gnomes, actually are people.”